Device for opening laterally-moving doors.



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T. whHfiERMANS. j DEVICE FOR OPENING LA'EERA LYEMOVING 9003s.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19, 1901.

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PATENTED JAN. 6', 1903.

T. W. H'EERMANS. DEVICE FOR OPENING LATERALLY MOVING DOORS.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 19, 1901.

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L R. 4 l 7 0 N DEVICE FOR OPENING LATERALLY MOVING DOORS. V

APP LIOATION FILED OUT. 19, 1901.

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PATENTED JAN. G, 1903.

'7." W. HEERMANS. DEVICE FOR OPENING LATERALLY MOVING nooRs."

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.19, 1901,

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No. 717,745. PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903.

T. W. NNENM NS. DEVICE FOR OPENING LATERALLY MOVING DOORS.

j I APPLICATION FILED OUT 19, 1901.

NO MODEL. 5 SHEETSSHEET 5.

i 1 0 a a 0' X P -0 4 4 e 0 I s f Z "I 1% 1 J. i l l l i I 1 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THADDEUS W. HEERMANS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WINSLOW BROS. 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR OPENING LATERALLY-MOVING DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,745, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed October 19,1901- Serial No. 79.195. (No mmield To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THADDEUS W. HEER- MANS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Opening Laterally-Moving Doors,of which the following is a specification. 1

My invention relates to certain improvements in devices for opening laterally-moving doors, the inventionbeing intended especially for application to the doors of elevatorwells and other places where it is desirable to provide mechanical means for opening and closing the doors.

The invention aims to provide a compact and reliable apparatus capable of opening and closing the doors without danger to any person who may accidentally be caught in the opening and which shall also be free from liability to disarrangement and necessity for great precision of adjustment, such as would naturally make a device unduly sensitive to the changes caused by wear in ordinary use.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel characteristics, which will appear in the following description of the preferred form of the invention and which will be definitely pointed out inv the claims at the end thereof. r

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing a part of an inclosure, a laterallymoving door hung thereon, and an apparatus for operating said door chosen to illustrate myinvention. Fig. 2 is adetail vertical transverse section through the friction-rails inline 2 2 of Fig. 4, showing, however, the frictionwheel in the plane of the section. Fig. 3 is asimilar section in the line 3 3 of said Fig. 4, also showing the friction-wheel in the plane of the section. Fig. 4 is an elevation ofa portion of Fig. 1, drawn upon a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a vertical section in the line 5 5 of Fig. at looking in the direction of the arrow 5 and showing the principal portion of the apparatus in end elevation. Fig. 6 is a horizontalsection looking downward, taken in plane 6 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a similar section in the plane 7 7 of the same figure. Fig. 8 is a vertical section in the broken line 8 8 friction-wheel.

of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse section in the line 9 9 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow 9 and showing the startinglever in a difierent position. Fig. 10 is a ver tical section in line 10 10 of Fig. 4. Fig. 11 is a vertical section in line 11 11 of Fig. 10, and Fig. 12 is a section through the Well, showing the elevator-car and means thereon for actuating the door-operating devices from the car.

In the figures, A represents a portion of an inclosure, B B B upright posts thereof, and G a transom supported upon said posts. A doorway is seen at D and a door-supporting track at E, said track being secured to the upright posts and extending over the doorway and sufficiently to one side thereof to carry the door in its open position. Rollers F are suitably journaled on projections g g, extending from the opposite ends of a friction-rail G, from which the door H is hung by means of brackets h h. The friction-rail is preferably made up of a fiat back g and overhanging front portions g 9 separated sufficiently to permit of the passage between them of a friction -wheel I, Fig. 2. Said wheel preferably contains a V-shaped groove '5, converging toward the center of the Wheel, and the overhanging portions g g of the rail have oblique bearing-ribs g g g 9 arranged in pairs and projecting laterally in opposite directions to make frictional engagement with the opposite sides of the groove in the The ribs 9 g 'are arranged at the ends of the friction -rail and more nearly together than the intermediate ribs 9 Furthermore, the ribs g 9 project laterally, so as to engage the sides of a V- shaped groove near the periphery of the wheehwhile the ribs 9 g" engage the sides of the groove nearer the center. The engagement of the ribs 9 g with the wheel nearer to its center gives a slower motion to the door in starting and stopping. It should be noticed that the ribs 9 g project slightly beyond the ribs 9 Fig. l, which is to permit the shorter ribs to run off the frictionwheel I when the door comes to an open or closed position, leaving the longer ones in the proper position to beengaged by said friction-wheel when it is desired to again open or close the door. The groove in the friction-wheel I is of such size and shape as to enable said wheel to engage either the upper or lower bearing-rib without touching the other, and the amount of movement required to transfer such frictional contact from one bearing-rib to the other need be but very slight. This friction wheel is, however, never in contact with both upper and lower bearing-ribs, but is moved from one to the other in the opening and closing of the door.

The friction-wheel I above referred to is provided witha shaft t", Figs. 7 and 11, journaled in a boxing J and carrying a wormgear 6 meshing with a similar gear-wheel 70, fast upon a vertical shaft K, which extends from the top to the bottom of the building and is continuously rotated by suitable means. (Not shown in the drawings.) This shaft is made up in sections, one for each elevatordoor and each capable of a limited amount of longitudinal movement with respect to the other.

Figs. 10 and 11 show the two contiguous ends of two sections of the shaft and means for connecting them so as to rotate together. A sleeve encircles the ends of these sections and is secured to the section 70 by a pin it, which extends through the gear 70, sleeve I0 and section 70 of the shaft. A pin 70 socured in the sleeve k passes through a slot [66 in the section 70 to connect said section to the sleeve and yet permit either one to move upon the other. The boxing J is formed with a vertical cylindrical portion J, adapted to forma bearing for the sleeve 70 and section 70 of the shaft. The boxing J is made up of two portions 7' j, secured together at 7' and e nllarged at i j to accommodate the gears 'L 0.

Upon the upright B is secured a bracket M, having forwardly-projecting arms m, Figs. 6 and 8, supporting a shaft m, upon which is pivoted a yoke-shaped lever N, consisting, preferably, of two arms a n and the connecting portion n The arms at n are formed with forward extensions n 11, connected to gudgeons j j upon the cylindrical portion J of the boxing J. The lever N is adapted by its oscillation to raise and lower the boxing to throw the friction-wheel I into or out of contact with the upper bearing-ribs upon the friction-rail G. The weight of the shaft keeps the friction-wheel in contact with the lower bearing-rib except when the friction-wheel is thrown into engagement with the upper bearing-rib. Said lever is oscillated by means of a lock-lever 0, fast upon a shaft n seated in the connecting-piece n of the lever N and bearing without the same a spring 07., secured to said shaft and lever and tending to hold the lock-lever O in the position seen in Fig. 5. In this position the lower arm 0 of said lock-leverprojects in the path of a lug g upon the friction-rail, which prevents the door from being opened. The weight of the shaft keeps the lever N in the position seen in Fig. 5, and a set-screw m threaded in an arm m of the bracket M, forms a stop for the lever N. The upper end of the lock-lever O is provided with a projecting bolt or screw 0', by means of which the mechanism maybe thrown into gear when it is desired to open a door. The movement of the lever 0 from the position seen in Fig. 5 to that in Fig. 9 causes the lower end 0 of the lever to strike the projecting end of the shaft m in its movement, thus swinging the lever N upon the shaft m and raising the boxing J and the section 10 of the shafting and bringing the friction-wheel I into contact with the bearing-ribs 9 Figs. 1, 4, and 5 show the door fully closed and the parts in their normal position. To open the door, the lever O is swung back, bringing the friction-wheel into engagement with the projecting end of the adjacent bearing-rib g Said wheel being in rotation, the direction of which is indicated by the arrow thereon in Fig. 8, begins to open the door slowly until the rib g is reached, when the door will have acquired considerable momentum, and the engagement of the friction-wheel with said rib will move the door at an increased speed until the rib g is reached, when the movement will be slowed down until said rib runs off the friction-wheel. 'The door will remain open as long as the lever O is kept in this position, and when the door is to be closed the lever is released, permitting the weight of the shaft to draw the frictionwheel down upon the projecting end of the adjacent rib g and close the door.

It is customary in devices of this class to provide upon the elevator-car a shoe or other operating mechanism which is under the control of the elevator conductor and which may be brought to bear upon the screw 0 to swing the operating-lever in one direction,and thereby throw the mechanism into gear to open the door. The removal of said shoe or other operating mechanism from the lever 0 permits the latter to resume its normal position, and the weight of the shaft brings the friction-wheel down upon the lower bearing-ribs.

One of the devices commonly in use upon elevator-cars for the purpose of actuating door-operating mechanisms is illustrated in Fig. 12, wherein Z is the car of the elevator running in the elevator-well. Upon the top of the car Z is a bracket P, preferably constructed in the form shown. This bracket may, however, be made in other forms, as may be desired. Upon this bracket are swung two links (1 q, which support a shoe Q. It will be seen that the shoe Q and the links q q form approximately a parallelogram and that the shoe is thus kept parallel to the car, but may be moved downward and inward at any time, as desired. Inward motion is limited by a stop 29 upon the bracket P. The shoe Q when in its upper position engages the screw 0 upon the end of the lever O, and it is beveled at the top and bottom, as shown,

able thereon.

so that if the shoe is thrown outward while the car. is in motion the screw 0 will meet first the beveled portion and be gradually forced backward. The lowerend of the shoe Q is connected by a link R to the rod S, secured to the car Z and longitudinally mov- The rod S runs upon the side of the car and extends slightly below the bottom thereof, and it is normally held in its lower position by a coiled springs, which surrounds its lower end. The bottom of the rod S is connected by a lever B to a push-lever T, extending into the car proper. The lever B. is pivoted between its ends on a bracket r, secured to the bottom of the car, and the pushlever T terminates in a knob t on the floor of the car. It will be seen that pressure upon the knob twill force the parts into the position shown in the drawings and that when this pressure is released the springs will draw down the rod 8 and draw in the shoe Q, so as to release it from its engagement with the screw 0 upon the lever O. In other words, the shoe Q can be thrown in and out as desired by pressing upon the knob tin the car. by the foot of the operator.

The set-screw o is used as a contact-piece in order to take up any wear which may take place either upon the shoe or'upon the lever.

The device shown and described is simple in construction, but very effective in operation and not likely to get out of order, and although the device has been specifically shown and described I am aware that alterations and modifications of the device are possible and do not,therefore,desire to limit myself to the exact details.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination witha rotatable shaft, of a slidable door, a friction-rail supported upon the door, a friction-wheel geared to said shaft and means for imparting to said wheel a slight movement, longitudinal of the shaft, whereby said wheel is brought into engagement with said friction-rail, substantially as described.

2. The combination with arotatable shaft, of a slidable door, a friction-rail supported upon said door, a friction-wheel geared to said shaft, and means for imparting a slight longitudinal movement to the said shaft and friction-wheel whereby the said wheel is brought into engagement with said friction-rail, sub-' stantially as described.

3. The combination with a continuously-rotating shaft, of a slidable door, afriction-rail supported upon the door, a friction-wheel geared to said shaft and means for imparting to said wheel a slight movement, longitudinal of the shaft, whereby said wheel is brought into engagement with said frictionrail, substantially as described.

4. The combination,with a continuously-rotating shaft, of a slidable door, a friction-rail supported upon said door, a friction-wheel This pressure is usually obtained geared to said shaft, and means for imparting a slight longitudinal movement to the said shaft and friction -wheel whereby the said wheel is brought into engagement with said friction-rail, substantially as described.

sides, a rotatable wheel grooved to embrace said rail and make contact with the oblique faces thereof and means for making and breaking such contact; substantially as described.

7. The combination with a continuously-rotating grooved friction-wheel, of a slidable door, a friction-rail having a bearing-rib adapted to enter the groove and be engaged by the friction-wheel for moving the door in one direction, a second bearing-rib to beengaged for moving the door inthe opposite direction, one of said ribs projecting beyond the other at one end and the other of'said ribs projectin g beyond the first-named rib at the other end whereby said friction-wheel may run off one of the bearing ribs at the end of the movement of the door in either direction, but

may-remain in position to engage with the other of said ribs; substantially as described.

8. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a friction-wheel geared thereto, a frictionrail, a stop thereon, a pivoted lever adapted to throw the friction-wheel into working engagement with the friction-rail and an operating-lever pivoted thereto having an end 1ying in the path of the stop on the rail whereby the operating-lever will first release the rail and then throw the friction-wheel into ongagement with the frictionrail; substantially as described.

9. The combination with a rotatable shaft and a worm-gear thereon, ofa gear arranged at right angles thereto and meshing therewith, a friction-wheel connected to said second-named worm-gear, a slidable door and a friction-rail supported thereby and means for bringing said friction-Wheel into engagement with said rail to open or close the door, substantially as described.

10. The combination with a rotatable shaft composed of sections non-rotatable with respect to each other, but capable of independent longitudinal movement, of a frictionwheel geared to one of said sections, a slidable door and a friction-rail supported thereby, and means for raising the shaft-section bearing the friction-Wheel to throw'the latter into engagement with the friction-rail; substantially as described.

l tudinal movement of said shaft will bring the friction-Wheel into engagement with either of said bearing-ribs; substantially as described. :3

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 19th day of July, A. D. 190i.

THADDEUS W. IIEERMANS. i

Witnesses;

JOHN A. MURPHY, CHAS. O. SHERVEY. 

